the Sea of Reeds, and then skirted the hill country of Seir a long time. The fourth reading ends here, with the end of the first closed portion (, setumah). Fifth reading — Deuteronomy 2:2–30 In the fifth reading (, aliyah), God then told Moses that they had been skirting that hill country long enough and should now turn north. God instructed that the people would be passing through the territory of their kinsmen, the descendants of Esau in Seir, and that the Israelites should be very careful not to provoke them and should purchase what food and water they ate and drank, for God would not give the Israelites any of their land. So the Israelites moved on, away from the descendants of Esau, and marched on in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. The second closed portion (, setumah) ends in the middle of . God told Moses not to harass or provoke the Moabites, for God would not give the Israelites any of their land, having assigned it as a possession to the descendants of Lot. The Israelites spent 38 years traveling from Kadesh-barnea until they crossed the wadi Zered, and the whole generation of warriors perished from the camp, as God had sworn. concludes the third closed portion (, setumah). Then God told Moses that the Israelites would be passing close to the Ammonites, but the Israelites should not harass or start a fight with them, for God would not give the Israelites any part of the Ammonites' land, having assigned it as a possession to the descendants of Lot. God instructed the Israelites to set out across the wadi Arnon, to attack Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and begin to occupy his land. Moses sent messengers to King Sihon with an offer of peace, asking for passage through his country, promising to keep strictly to the highway, turning neither to the right nor the left, and offering to purchase what food and water they would eat and drink. But King Sihon refused to let the Israelites pass through, because God had stiffened his will and hardened his heart in order to deliver him to the Israelites. The fifth reading ends here, with the end of the fourth closed portion (, setumah). Sixth reading — Deuteronomy 2:31–3:14 In the sixth reading (, aliyah), Sihon and his men took the field against the Israelites at